Episode 3
by koosschwartz7
Summary: A continuation of Chell and Gordon Freeman's story, their fates intertwining to the grand finale. The effects of the Borealis, the Combine's last stand and friendships between characters, this is the ending to the Half life and Portal stories.
1. Prelude

Chapter 0 - Prologue

For the first time since she can remember, Chell was calm. There was no GlaDos, no Wheatley and the distance between her and Aperture was growing ever larger.

She continued to walk through the field. At first she had marveled at the expansive plains before her, the afternoon sun had lit up the golden grasslands, and when she looked up it was an eternity of blue, she couldn't even see the ceiling. It just stretched on forever, as if there wasn't one.

*_sky_*.

The word echoed fuzzily somewhere in her mind, a lost memory from a different time. But she knew where she was. Outside. She smiled at the thought of the charred remains of her companion cube. Even though she never suffered the delusion that the cube had any real sentimental value, she had thought it apt to push it under the shade of the shack before continuing away. A memory for someone else to find.

Someone else, she desperately wanted to know there was someone else out there, that this wasn't all some trick. She started running, through the grass field to the other side where there was a straight clearing.

*_road_*

Some level of understanding of the outside world remained, even after her prolonged coma under the questionable care of Wheatley. That had left her damaged. Some functions -like speaking- she feared she might never have again. She felt naked without her portal gun, but that was safely tucked away in the hands of Atlas and P-Body back at Aperture.

She started walking along the road, and soon she came upon a barely readable sign. The smell of smoke was in the air as she made out the words:

"Welcome to City 17".


	2. A City Asunder

Chapter 1 - A City Asunder

It was cold. The sun was setting and there was frost in the air. Chell had passed several destroyed vehicles and had seen what she thought to be human remains at one time. She felt uneasy. The large column of smoke that originated somewhere ahead was drawing closer,

and she wasn't too sure she wanted to know what caused it.

"_Just over the hill, keep walking._"

Now that there was no voice present telling her to "keep testing" she found that she needed to have prolonged, mute conversations with herself to keep the voices in her head at bay. She was immensely tired. The cold and hunger was wearing her down. Regardless, she knew that there had to be something meaningful beyond the hill ahead. If there wasn't, she would probably die of exposure come nightfall.

What she saw when she reached the top brought her to a standstill.

The scattered remains of a City stood before her. A crater so large she could barely see the other side loomed in the middle of suburban City 17. It was in ruins. Chell hoped its residents got out before whatever tragedy struck here destroyed the city. Something was lying in a heap a couple of meters ahead.

"_Was that... alive, once?_"

As she approached the creature that looked half-bug, half-robot she wondered how anything so tall could ever have lived in an urban environment. Then she saw the gun mounted underneath the beast, and she knew the beast wasn't just a casualty in the tragedy that struck City 17. This was the scene of a battle.

She noted other remnants too. Shell casings littered the street, and she saw the body of an armoured man wearing a mask lying in the rubble. Memories of aperture came flooding back.

This looked very much like what Wheatley did to the Laboratory, nearly killing Chell and GlaDos less than 24 hours ago. If she didn't know that Wheatley was now a floating derelict in the moon's orbit she might have thought she never left the facility.

But this was different, at Aperture everything was precise, measured, clean and always served a scientific purpose. Everything was a test. This was Chaos. Destruction seemed like the only objective here. This was not the work of GlaDos or Wheatley.

A noise startled her. She spun around to see the silhouette of a man appear down the street. The sun was setting fast and in the fading twilight he was just a mirage. For a moment her heart leapt.

"_Someone made it, I'm not alone here!_"

Then she noticed his odd disposition. His head seemed too large for his body, and he had an odd limp. He came closer. She could see that he was severely injured, in fact she couldn't believe he was walking at all. And his head. His head seemed grotesquely deformed, like a cancerous growth had enveloped his face.

When he was less than ten feet away, the growth moved. It lifted its crab-like legs from his neck, revealing a grisly sight where the man's face should be. The zombie charged.

At first she couldn't believe she didn't notice his hands. Unnaturally long fingers, stripped of flesh and reaching out to her. Chell found that she was already running. This was unlike anything she had ever faced. No solution, no portal gun, no exit. Animal instinct took over as she stumbled through the debris. With her heart hammering, she turned a corner, but found only a dead end.

"_No no no NO! Not after all I've been through! There has to be a solution, an exit!_"

But this was not a test chamber, and she was trapped. She had survived it all, just to die at the hands of a dead man.

"_No choice, I'll have to fight!_"

The zombie was almost on top of her. When he came into reach, she swung and punched at his chest, attempting to knock him over. But her arm sunk into his rotten flesh up to the elbow.

Long fingers locked around her throat and squeezed shut. She couldn't have screamed if she wanted to.

"_Ironic._" she thought. "_Starved for the least bit of human interaction, desperately seeking someone, anyone… and the first touch I experience is that of murder._"

She fought to draw a breath, even broke a finger or two, but a dead man feels no pain, her vision blurred, then color faded and as her world turned to black, she heard a pop.


	3. Barney

That sound. Unmistakably she can't remember hearing it before.

Human voices.

"Alright everybody back up, she's comin around!" an unrecognized voice shouted.

She gasped a rasping breath through her stinging throat. Air has never tasted so sweet, nor so painful.

When her vision returned she saw for the first time a person that was not herself reflected in a portal. He had short brown hair, a stocky build and spoke in a funny accent. It was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard.

"You alright there miss? Darn Zombine had nearly gone and done and choked you to death. Hate what the dang head humpers have done to people. But just another gift from our benefactors, right?"

He had said the last bit in a mocking tone, as if he was mimicking someone else. Chell just sat there and stared in wonder at the miracle before her that was another person. A real speaking, smiling person.

The 'Zombine' was now laying off to one side, with a hole in its head. She noticed the revolver in Barney's hand was loaded, but could see one spent shell in the magazine.

"You'll have time to flirt later Barnicle, my congregation gathers! We have to leave Ravenholm now!"

An older man with a double barreled shotgun was standing unnoticed behind Barney. Indeed, there were a couple of people standing around looking uneasy.

"Calm down father Grigori, I'm just making sure she's alright. Lets get to the transport."

Barney held out a hand to Chell.

"Can you walk miss?" he asked.

Chell nodded.

"City 17, or what remains of it, isn't safe. We're escorting survivors to white forest." Barney pointed to a snow-capped mountain in the distance.

"Chell. Is that what they call you?" Barney asked pointing to the writing on her orange jumpsuit.

Chell nodded.

Barney regarded her for a moment, then spoke.

"Well Chell, put on this rider's jacket and follow me."

He must have noticed how cold she was because the moment she put on the leather jacket she felt instantly warmer. The Aperture jumpsuit didn't do much for insulation. She set off after Barney.

"Lucky for us the antlions aren't active here anymore, a week ago Gordon Freeman fought and killed two guardians on the other side of the mines."

Despite her silence Barney chatted on as if she were the most interesting thing on the face of the planet. Half the time she didn't even know what he was talking about. She envied his confident manner, and his knowledge. She didn't even know who she was. She only knew her name was Chell, and that only because it was written on her jacket.

"...yeah I think you'll enjoy Doctor Freeman's company, you two seem to have a lot in common." Barney said and raised an eyebrow at her.

She did not know who this Gordon was, but she managed a weak smile.

**- λ³ -**

They stopped for a quick meal in the cover of a derailed train. The small group of survivors ate apples and dry biscuits, and some ale was passed around. The apples were bruised and the ale looked home made, but Chell had never had a better meal in all her life.

The sun had long since set, but a strange twinkle had remained in the night sky.

"The Northern lights have been visible every day since the closing of the combine portal." a voice said behind her.

She jumped. Father Gregory was standing behind her, his shotgun slung over one shoulder. The man had a hard demeanor, but his eyes weren't cold. Something told her this man's soul ran immeasurably deep with experiences of a long and hard life.

"I once met another like you. I helped him cross the cursed land known as Ravenholm, the remains of which you experienced first hand when we met. They called him the one free man..."

Father Grigori remained silent for some time.

"Then the combine came. I was taken to Nova Prospekt to be questioned concerning the whereabouts of the one free man. I hated my captors for taking me away from my home, even though it was what it was. But the Lord works in mysterious ways..."

He rubbed the golden crucifix around his neck, deep in thought.

"Had I not been taken I would surely have perished in the blast when the citadel went nuclear."

The survivors spent the night sleeping in the burnt out shell of the cargo train. Chell awoke to the shaking hand of Barney.

"Change of plans, you and I are taking Gordon's ride to white forest." Barney said with a smile.


	4. A Freeman at a funeral

The funeral was short. Doctor Kleiner and Alyx Vance said a few words, then Gordon and Barney carried the casket to the stone grave. A Small statue had been raised by a survivor from 17, an artist who "found inspiration in the balls it took to continue Black Mesa after the seven hour war."

Alyx had disappeared into the woods with Dog after the service, and only returned when a storm broke loose. Gordon never really worried about her, but was glad all the same when she returned.

"Sorry about that, I just felt like clearing my head." Alyx said when she arrived astride Dog.

Sleet and rain was pouring down outside in torrents now, but Gordon was sure Alyx's face wasn't just wet from the storm.

"I'll have time to mourn later. We need to fix that Chopper." she said evasively as Barney approached them.

"Actually I just wanted to let you guys know I heard about a small group of survivors on the edge of Ravenholm that I wanna go pick up tomorrow." said Barney.

"What? How did they survive the blast and the Portal Storms?" Alyx asked.

"I have no idea, but they did. They also managed to hail us on the emergency signal. Some russian priest called Grigori. Gordon can I borrow your car?"

Gordon smiled tossed him the keys. He remembered Grigori and he wasn't going anywhere until that Chopper took him and Alyx to the Borealis. Eli's last request concerning what they would find there still plagued him. The little he knew of Aperture was enough to make him understand that what they will find there will have a major impact on the war. Whether it would save or kill them remained to be seen. Eli Vance's last words were to destroy the Borealis at all costs. Gordon was inclined to acquiesce his request.

Doctor Kleiner still thought that the Borealis contained a working prototype of Aperture's rumored self-sustaining portal technology. The concept confused even Gordon. When they transported Alyx through their first portal it knocked out the power for several blocks. Even the Citadel couldn't provide enough power for a sustained portal.

"You alright there Gordon buddy? Looks like we lost you there for a second." said Barney.

Barney motioned to the hangar entrance.

"Come on, let me buy you that Beer I owe ya. I think old man Jackson still has some scrumpy."

Gordon looked around just in time to see Alyx disappear into the Chopper Hanger. She was dead set on repairing the damage the Advisors did to the Chopper.

"_Man those things are powerful. And we still don't know how they emit the force fields._" Gordon thought.

Doctor Magnussen theorized that it was a wave of energy on an unmapped area of the electromagnetic spectrum - like magnetism - but that affects all matter - like gravity.

Besides for Dog, Gordon still had no idea how they were going to survive another encounter with an Advisor. The Vortigaunts hunted them when they were still in incubation, but even they feared Advisors when they attained their full power. And a Vortigaunt doesn't fear much.

He really wanted that beer now.

- λ³ -

Gordon was worried. Barney was supposed to be back by now. Alyx had repaired most of the damage to the fuselage by now and the Chopper was almost ready for flight. Gordon had been tasked with reconstructing the flight computer by hand, a tedious process that had resulted in a few burnt fingers. Doctor Kleiner's voice blared to life over the intercom.

"Alyx Vance and Gordon Freeman, please report to the med-bay immediately!"

Alyx appeared from under her welding helmet.

"What could possibly be more important than getting the chopper fixed? Kleiner had better not just have lost Lamarr again!" said Alyx irritably.

They boarded an elevator, and waited in awkward silence for the third floor.

_"I suppose this is what its like to other people._" Gordon thought as he shifted uncomfortably in the silence.

Alyx had been cold and distant since the death of her father, and this worried Gordon. Her usual optimistic demeanor had been replaced with a sullen, dreary presence. He wished he could just wrap her in cotton and keep the world from hurting her again.

The elevator doors opened and Doctor Kleiner rushed in to meet them.

"They found Doctor Mossman!" Doctor Kleiner exclaimed the moment the elevator doors opened.

Alyx was taken aback.

"I thought she was chasing the Borealis? Last we heard she had raided a combine facility and found its location." Alyx said.

"She just showed up on our perimeter and lost consciousness the moment we picked her up. We're just as confused as you are!" said Kleiner.

Gordon grew impatient and pushed his way into the med-bay. Doctor Judith Mossman was comatose, and looked pale. Otherwise she seemed remarkably unharmed. Alyx and Doctor Kleiner joined Gordon in the room. Alyx's eyes had taken a sudden glaze, and she looked fragile.

"I wonder what she'll say when she wakes and finds that my father..."

Her voice broke. And she cried. And for the first time, Gordon pulled her closer. And there was that feeling again, like he would give anything to protect her from getting hurt again.

They just stood there for a little while until Alyx pulled away and wiped her eyes dry.

"I'm sorry Gordon, I didn't mean to break down all over you like that. It's just tha..."

"ELI!"

Doctor Judith Mossman sat up so quickly Kleiner nearly fell over backwards.

"Where is Eli?!" said Judith with a delirious look in her eyes.

"Calm down Judith! You've b-been unconscious, we have to check your v-vitals..." stammered Doctor Kleiner before Judith interrupted him again.

"NO! Tell me where is Eli, I need to see him! Tell me it isn't true!"

Silence fell in the room. After a moment, Alyx spoke up.

"Doctor Mossman, I'm afraid there's been an attack on White Forest, and my father..."

Her voice trailed off, but she didn't need to say the rest. Judith buried her face in her hands.

"You… you loved him didn't you?" Alyx asked carefully.

"With all my heart."

After a moment Kleiner spoke again.

"Judith, how did you know? And how did you return to us so quickly? You've been out of reach for days."

Judith Mossman turned and looked Gordon dead in the eyes.

"Our mutual friend payed me a visit. Get me to the control room."

Gordon was taken aback. There was a time when he thought the man in the suit was a figment of his imagination. But the Vortigaunts hinted at his existence, and he suspected Alyx and Eli had known about him too. But this proved it. The G-man was active among far more people than he had ever imagined.

"To the control room, then." said Alyx.

In the control room Judith showed them footage of the Borealis, the famed science vessel of Black Mesa's competitors, Aperture.

"I have its coordinates. It seems to have run aground in the northern coastal region. Its crew has vanished and no trace of damage can be found, after being lost at sea for almost two decades, the Borealis has simply... reappeared."

She paused for effect.

"This was no accident. Someone is responsible for driving that ship onto our radar."

Alyx was skeptical.

"Aperture has been dead since the seven hour war and the Borealis has been lost at sea ever since. Who could possibly still be around to do that?" she asked.

"I think I might have the answer to that." said a familiar voice behind them.

Gordon turned around to find Barney standing there with a Girl he didn't know. She had Chestnut brown hair, and she was dressed in what appeared to be Barney's leather Jacket and an orange jumpsuit. Despite her disheveled hair and dirty face she was rather attractive. She was staring wide eyed at everybody in the control room, as if she had never seen so many people before. She did not speak but just looked to Barney for help.

"Gordon, I'd like you to meet Chell, test candidate 517 from aperture laboratories."


	5. Unification

At first Barney could not place where he had seen the image on Chell's jumpsuit before. It seemed familiar, but given their rush to escape the growing number of zombies he didn't think much of it at the time. She certainly wasn't very chatty. But just like with Gordon, this didn't bother him much.

That night he lay on the floor of a derailed train staring up at the northern lights playing across the sky. Something about this girl was off. Winter was coming, but Chell wasn't dressed to accommodate the frosty conditions. While she was fairly attractive, it still looked like she didn't look after herself. Hell, even Alyx found time to brush her hair and wash her face, though usually only when Gordon was around. He might have pegged Chell for someone who had given up had she not been fighting to survive when they first met. The words on her jumpsuit bothered him most.

_"Test subject 517."_

Had the combine been experimenting on humans? It would not surprise him, but the disc-shaped sign on her jumpsuit kept him thinking. He had seen it before somewhere. It kept him up most of the night but when dawn broke he realized why his subconscious was blocking it out. He had seen it on the day Eli Vance died, painted on the side of the Borealis.

"Aperture."

The moment he said it Chell stirred in her sleep, as if she was experiencing a nightmare.

He told Grigori he was taking the car and Chell to white forest so the medics could check her out. He didn't exactly lie. If Aperture experimented on Chell, she needed medical attention. But he knew her sudden appearance wasn't just coincidence and he needed the help of his best friend, Gordon Freeman, to figure this out.

The trip was relatively short in Gordon's fast car. Chell was silent as ever, but occasionally Barney caught her staring at him, as if he was a wonder to behold. When they arrived at white forest they were famished and Barney requested warm meals for both of them.

"Boy, that sure hit the spot. Way better than bruised apples and scrumpy." said Barney when they had finished.

"Now for some dessert. Want some cake Chell?".

Chell nearly choked on her food.

_"I guess she's watching her weight."_ he thought, amused. "Yeah I suppose we're overdue to speak to the doc' anyway, lets go."

When he entered the control room he was surprised to find doctor Judith Mossman there, red-eyed and pale. She looked like she had been crying.

After he had awkwardly introduced Chell to everyone, (Chell seemed unfamiliar with shaking hands) doctor Kleiner performed some tests and came back with some unfortunate results.

"My dear, I'm afraid you have sustained some damage to your nervous system. Some of your functions, like speech, may be lost or suppressed. In time, some of those functions may return, but that remains to be seen."

Chell's eyes dropped to the floor and her expression was blank. Barney felt an odd need to comfort her and quickly piped up.

"Aaaw cmon' doc, it's not all that bad." He gave Chell's shoulder a squeeze. "Gordon rarely speaks, and everyone loves him!"

People chuckled around the room and Chell managed a cute smile. Gordon merely raised an eyebrow at Barney over his glasses.

"Alright everyone, its time we heard this young lady's story. Alyx, would you be so kind as to hand her the whiteboard?" doctor Magnussen asked.

It took two hours for her to recount the highlights of what had happened to her, and another hour to draw up an approximate timeline. Alyx came up with a theory.

"OK, So this Wheatley guy was in control of the facility when the Borealis first showed up, but he was designed to make bad decisions, right?"

Chell nodded.

"What if GlaDos had been hiding the Borealis from the combine all these years, but when Wheatley took control he ran the Borealis aground as the result of one of his bad decisions?" Ayx asked.

Chell seemed to think this was possible.

"Maybe we should just ask him." Barney said. "Where is he now?"

Chell thought for a moment, then pointed at the sky.

"Oh, you killed him and he's in heaven?" Barney asked, perplexed.

Chell shook her head, but smiled.

Gordon meanwhile had been re-reading Chell's story.

"Well Gordon, any thoughts?" Alyx asked.

He pointed to a phrase on the whiteboard.

"Yes, what exactly did Aperture achieve in the field of 'Portal Technology'?" Doctor Kleiner asked eagerly.

Chell made a movement like she was firing a shotgun.

"Err, long distance weaponry?" asked Alyx.

"Low-energy quantum gating?" asked Doctor Kleiner.

Chell shook her head and wrote on the whiteboard again.

'A gun that makes holes.'

"Yeah I can see those MIT nerds from Aperture really know their stuff, what a breakthrough!" Barney said teasingly.

Gordon rolled his eyes.

"Ok boys, playtime is over. The Chopper will be ready to leave for the Borealis in 20 minutes. I just hope we beat the Combine there." Judith announced over the intercom.

"I think Chell should come with us, Gordon." said Alyx. "She's the only one here who has ever dealt with Aperture."

At the time he wasn't sure why he said it, but before he could stop himself Barney announced:

"If she's going then so am I."


	6. The Borealis

Chell hated not being able to speak. She wanted to be able to reply to Barney's witty comments. She wanted to be able to tell someone what happened to her. She wanted to tell them that she was afraid to return to another Aperture facility. She wouldn't have agreed to go at all if Barney had not insisted on going with her. Somehow having someone else in the picture gave Aperture laboratories a less intimidating image.

"ETA to point insertion, 90 seconds."

The pilot's voice jerked Chell back to reality. She looked around the cabin. The people she met earlier were dressed differently now. Gordon was dressed in a suit that had a large lambda on its chest, Alyx was wearing a sleeveless leather jacket over a fur coat and had what appeared to be bloodstains on its back. Since Chell was still wearing Barney's leather jacket, Barney had opted to wear something that resembled body armor. He now carried an assault rifle in addition to his .44 magnum at his side, and he had a determined look on his face. He turned and caught her looking at him, and winked.

"Look alive guys, we have company!"

Alyx yelled to be heard above the noise of the rotor.

"Gunship at 9 o'clock! Evasive manoeuvres!" the pilot responded frantically.

The chopper turned sharply and dived to avoid getting caught in the gunship's fire, then headed straight for the landing zone.

"You have exactly ten seconds to exit and get ready to take that gunship down, move!" the pilot commanded.

Chell did not need a second invitation. They jumped from the chopper before it even touched down properly. Gordon had a rocket launcher in his hands and was already taking aim, but the gunship was ready for him. His first rocket made it halfway to the gunship before the concentrated fire from its main gun tore it apart in mid air.

Although it did not damage the gunship, it did distract it long enough for the chopper to take off again. Gordon had another rocket loaded in seconds.

"Come on Gordon I know you can do it!" said Alyx.

"Yeah smack that glorified mosquito!" Barney concurred.

The gunship was right above them and heading for the chopper when Gordon fired. The explosive shell tore a hole through the spinning rotor, and the gunship spun out of control.

"Look out Chell! Its coming down!" Alyx shouted.

Chell attempted to escape the gunship's debris but stumbled and fell in the snow. She struggled to her feet and noticed the gunship had stalled and was now in free fall but it still headed towards her, carried on by its remaining forward momentum. She froze in place, and for a moment she thought that this was the end.

Then Barney tackled her.

Chell's head met the ice with a bump, and her world spun. They slid along the ice for a few meters as the gunship smashed down behind them. Fiery debris rained down around them like a thousand shooting stars, but they were out of the danger zone.

Chell groggily tried to rise, but just stumbled and fell. Barney caught her before she hit her head again.

"Whoah there m'lady, deep breaths, take your time. Sorry about that, but a second later and you'd have been, err.. _deeply impressed_ by that gunship." said Barney with a wink.

Chell smiled wordlessly. Barney had saved her again. She owed him her life twice over now.

"Alright we're about 2 klicks south of the Borealis, lets move before more gunships arrive." Alyx said.

Barney helped Chell to her feet, and they took off after Alyx and Gordon.

They caught up with them at the edge of the coastline. Gordon handed them each an earpiece.

"Hello? White forest to Borealis landing party, do you read me?" doctor Kleiner's voice cracked through the earpiece in Chell's left ear.

"Yeah we read you doc. We're almost at the Borealis, as soon as its clear we'll let you know so that y'all can come join us in this freezing hell." Barney responded.

"You had better hurry, our radar is detecting overwatch dropships on their way." Judith chimed in.

"Oh dear. You must ensure the technology is safe, if the combine…" doctor Kleiner stuttered before Alyx interrupted him.

"Enough Isaac! Leave the strategic talk to Judith, we'll contact you when we get there." she snapped.

"Alright my dear, good luck." Kleiner responded.

There was a few moments of silence before Barney turned to Gordon.

"You don't really intend to take anything on the Borealis back to white forest, do you?" he asked.

Gordon shook his head.

"My dad's dying wish was that we destroy that ship, and my dad wasn't wrong very often." Alyx said.

"Kleiner and Magnusson is gonna love you." Barney said sarcastically.

Alyx shrugged.

"Its easier to ask forgiveness than permission."

**- λ³ -**

The Borealis was huge. It was easily the size of a football stadium, a frozen hulk bathed in the dim light of a setting sun.

"Wow. What do ya think we'll find there doc?" Barney asked Gordon.

"We don't know, Barney. Hopefully something that will help us sink it through the ice." Alyx responded in Gordon's place.

"Lets get up there." Barney suggested, and pointed to a ladder on the side of ship.

They were halfway to the top when Gordon heard an all too familiar sound below them. His blood froze and his head swarmed with images of Alyx on a table, vortigaunts barely keeping her alive. Those moments he never wanted to experience again.

Explosive fléchettes buried themselves in the ship's hull next to them.

"Hunters! Climb! Climb for your life!" Barney shouted as the fléchettes exploded, showering them in sparks.

Gordon caught sight of Alyx's face above him, it was a mask of fear. Gordon made a choice.

He let go of the ladder and had a pulse rifle in his hands before he hit the ground.

"Gordon NO!" Alyx's scream was blood curdling.

Gordon stumbled a little when he hit the ground. When he rose he found himself face to face with a combine hunter, it's harpoon like front leg raised to strike him down. For a split second Gordon panicked.

Then Alyx's boot came crashing down on the hunter, stumbling it. Gordon took the chance and raised his pulse rifle. The energy orb hit the hunter squarely, and it vaporized where it stood.

Gordon knew their fight wasn't over yet. Hunters always hunted in packs. Sure enough, Two more hunters appeared as if from nowhere.

"You take left. I'll take right." Alyx said.

Gunfire erupted above them. Barney and Chell had reached the top, and was now firing down at the hunters. Gordon turned left and ducked to avoid another wave of fléchettes that exploded behind him. He let loose a burst of fire from his pulse rifle that punched the hunter full of holes. The hunter reared, but Gordon didn't let up. He emptied his magazine on the hunter and it stumbled and lay motionless in the snow.

Alyx meanwhile had been dodging and firing at the other hunter, but her .22 did not have the necessary stopping power to kill a hunter. The hunter charged her, but was stopped short by another burst from Barney. It wheeled on him and irritably fired a burst of fléchettes at the edge at the ship. Chell yanked Barney away just in time to avoid the darts, but a few stuck to the edge of the ship and exploded a second later. The explosion tore the ladder away from the ship and it came crashing down on the ice.

Gordon had meanwhile finished reloading and emptied another magazine on the remaining hunter. It fell riddled with slugs from his rifle.

"That was just a scouting party, the soldiers are probably on their way." Alyx said.

"You alright down there?" Barney yelled from above.

"Yeah, but the ladder is shot to hell. We can't reach you! Gordon and I are gonna try to find another place to board, I think I see another ladder near the ship's bridge." said Alyx.

"Alright, Chell and I will try to make our way through the ship and meet you on the other side. Good luck!" Barney shouted and disappeared beyond sight.

Alyx turned to Gordon and frowned.

"Don't you ever do that again! Taking on three hunters by yourself on foot, what were you thinking?" Alyx was livid.

"You and I are a _team! _We will _fight_ as a team, we will _live_ as a team, and one day we will _die_ as a team!"

She actually had Gordon by the neck of his hazard suit now.

"You could have been killed right there! And then what would I have done? My father dead, you dead. Did you ever stop to think about that?"

Alyx yanked Gordon closer by his collar, until his her face was inches away from hers.

"Don't. You. EVER. Do that again, ok?" she said.

Then she kissed him.

**- λ³ -**

Barney opened the heavy door to the Borealis, and stepped inside. He turned to see if Chell was following, but she was frozen outside the door. Her eyes were wide with terror and she was white as a sheet.

"Come on girl, you can do it. I'm right here beside you."

Barney took her hand and gently pulled her inside.

"Would you feel better with a gun?" he asked.

Chell shook her head, but held onto his hand a little tighter. Barney felt an odd twitch in his stomach. He silently swore to himself that he would get her out of this place alive if it was the last thing he did. He drew his Colt Python and took the lead.

They walked down a ghostly white corridor lit by lights on either side. It reminded Barney of a hospital, but made him feel like he was in an insane asylum.

At the end of the corridor there was something that looked like a combine shieldwall, but looked a little more transparent. He started towards it.

"Hey what the..?" he stammered as his gun fizzled and vaporised the moment he touched the shield.

"_Intruders detected at incandescent particle gate three." _a mechanical voice blared above them.

"Son of a.." Barney began to swear, but was stopped short by a monotonous female voice that seemed to come from nowhere in particular.

"Well isn't this nice. I could have sworn I told you never to return. But I know you to be stubborn, you dangerous, mute lunatic."

Barney leaned closer to Chell.

"GlaDOS?" he whispered.

Chell nodded.

"So here we are, reunited in a sense. Though thankfully this time you're nowhere near my cores. And it seems you have found a mate! And in such a short time! Don't the humans have a word for that?" said GlaDOS.

Barney's mouth was hanging open, but he gathered himself at the last remark.

"Don't you dare suggest Chell is a.. a.."

He glanced at Chell who was staring at him in earnest, seemingly oblivious to the stinging comments of GlaDOS.

"..a, um.." he fumbled for a fitting description that would help him out of his moral dilemma.

"...a tradeable commodity!" Barney snapped.

"As entertaining as this conversation is, I must ask you why you came here, do you intend to destroy this place as well? Was murdering me not enough?" asked GlaDOS.

"Hey you deserved that!" Barney yelled back.

"You interrupt me far too often for a stranger, where did the mute lunatic find you?" GlaDOS asked.

"The name is Barney, and I found her on the outskirts of City 17 where _you_ abandoned her for the Combine to find!" Barney shouted.

There was a few moments of silence, then GlaDOS started laughing.

"Barney. Your name is Barney? And here I thought the outside world was devoid of humor!" she guffawed.

Music started playing.

'_Barney is a dinosaur of our imagination..._'

Barney's face turned scarlet.

"Seems like I touched a nerve! I suspect an imminent tantrum is on the way." GlaDOS teased.

"AND _I _SUSPECT AN IMMINENT BOOT UP YOUR ASS!" Barney countered.

The song buzzed with static, and then cut out.

"Thats right you'd better run!" Barney shouted and threw his hands in the air.

No sooner had he uttered those words then they heard the unmistakable sound of gunfire from somewhere in the ship.

"How… how did they find it?" GlaDOS's voice was unstable.

"I've hidden this ship for years, ever since the war. Never mind that now, I only have a minute before they cut me out, you must protect it!"said GlaDOS, sounding genuinely alarmed now.

"Protect what?" asked Barney.

"The Nihilanth's gate." said GlaDOS.

Barney had no response to this. He just stood there as quiet as Chell.

"Allow me to give you some final help."

GlaDOS's voice was cracking with static now.

"Go get 'em Chell."

GlaDOS almost sounded proud.

Then the static cut out. A box dropped out of a tube in the ceiling to the middle of the room. It was a white cube and had a pink heart painted in the centre. There was a whirring sound, and the box's top clicked open.

Chell immediately ran closer. She pulled out a pair of shoes that looked like stilts, and a device that resembled the gravity gun.


	7. Under Advisement

"Barney to Gordon, do you read me?"

Barney's voice came in clear in Gordon's earpiece.

"Loud and clear Barney, where are you?" asked Alyx.

"Not sure, we're jumping all over the place. This ship is a lot larger than it looks!" said Barney.

"We're climbing towards the bridge now but we have overwatch right on our asses!" said Alyx and fired a few shots back down the stairwell they were climbing.

"Judith, how fast can you get reinforcements here?" asked Barney.

"Reinforcements? How great is the combine presence there that you would require reinforcements?" asked Doctor Mossman.

"Every capable Combine body in the northern hemisphere is on its way here!" exclaimed Alyx.

"Judith, what do you know about the project Aperture was working on here?" asked Barney.

"Not much, most of Aperture's reports were redacted. The combine were highly interested in it though. From what I could gather it was something about gaining control." responded Judith.

"GlaDOS called it the Nihilanth's gate." said Barney.

"What?!" Judith, Kleiner and Magnusson exclaimed in unison. Even Gordon stopped firing down the stairs long enough to return his dropped jaw to its position.

"Aah Barnicle you have been busy." a gruff voice said over their radios.

"Grigori! Where are you?" exclaimed Barney.

"I'm in the chopper headed your way with a little surprise." said Grigori with a chuckle.

"It had better be good cause there is an _ass_-load of soldiers hot on our heels." said Barney.

"Enough chit-chat boys, we need to find and secure that gate and figure out how to sink this ship through the arctic ice blanket before the Combine starts another seven hour war!" Alyx shouted.

"I think I can help you with that. I'm going to be out of reach for a few hours." said Judith Mossman.

"Please hurry Judith!" Alyx pleaded and fired another shot at a combine soldier below them.

Gordon tossed a grenade down the stairs and motioned for Alyx to run. They sprinted up the last flight of stairs as the grenade exploded below them. Alyx shut the heavy steel door to the bridge behind them.

"No time to linger Gordon, we gotta move!" Alyx said and ran through a door that's sign read 'Project Aurora'.

"_Intruders detected at incandescent particle field one_".

Gordon's weapons fizzled and vaporized the moment he touched the shield. Even Alyx's automatic Glock disappeared from her hands. All their weapons vaporized, except for the gravity gun.

The particle field generator exploded with a shower of sparks, but the gravity gun now glowed with the familiar blue light that Gordon came to know in the citadel.

"Whoah! That particle field just supercharged the gravity gun again." Alyx exclaimed.

Gordon picked up the gravity gun and smiled like a boy with a new toy. He aimed the gravity gun at an I-beam and promptly tore it out of the wall and jammed it over the door behind them.

"Nice, that entrance is sealed." said Alyx. "Lets move!"

**- λ³ -**

"No no no Chell I don't like hiiiiiiiights" Barney hollered as Chell shoved him down an elevator shaft.

She opened a portal beneath him and he went shooting horizontally across the crevice that yawned through the ship's hull. Chell was in her element, traversing impossible terrain with the help of the portal gun GlaDOS supplied. Teasing Barney was also fun.

Barney flopped down on the other side of the crevice and Chell hopped through the portal after him. A combine soldier tried to follow suit but Chell closed the portal at the last instant and he smashed into the concrete bottom of the elevator shaft with a crunch.

"Did you hear that?" said Barney. "That could have been me if you'd missed! What would the world be without the raw awesomeness of Barney?"

Chell giggled soundlessly and pulled Barney forward. They ran on through the ship, but Barney halted in front of a large door.

"Experimental weapons storage." Barney read the sign above the door aloud. "Sounds like my kind of playground."

He opened the door.

The room was filled rows of weapons of all sizes.

"Aperture's own little candy shop." said Barney with a smile so wide it threatened to split his face in half.

He picked up a white gun that was labeled 'Aperture Photon Rifle' from the rack, and stuck a large handgun in his holster.

He turned to Chell with a mischievous grin. "You got your toys, and I got mine. Lets find some combine ass to kick!"

Chell smiled at him as he positively strutted forward, A.P.R. in hand. As for her, she preferred her handheld portal device.

They continued on through the labyrinth of passages, never quite sure where they're going but unable to turn back with the combine on their heels. It wasn't long before they came upon a vault-like door blocking their way. Barney attempted to turn the massive crank, but to no avail.

"Gordon, its Barney. We're trapped in front of a large vault-type door and the combine are right on our tails. Can you get to us?" Barney said over the earpiece.

"I think we're almost there Barney, just sit tight." Alyx replied.

Mechanical voices sounded from somewhere behind them.

"Well its about time I tried out this gun." Barney said.

Chell decided she wasn't exactly suited for a gun fight, and took cover. A second later the corridor exploded with gunfire, and a soldier in a white suit came charging at them. Barney fired.

The rifle made almost no sound, but a blinding white light exploded from it's barrel and the charging soldier disintegrated into ash.

"Whoah! This gun is awesome!" Barney exclaimed. "Its like the sun with a trigger!"

He didn't have time to admire it any further though. Combine soldiers came pouring through at the end of the corridor, and Barney let loose with unrelenting photon beams, obliterating everything in front of him. Chell shrank beneath the cover of an overturned table to avoid the fire aimed in their direction. Barney's rifle barrel was now glowing red hot and Chell faintly remembered GlaDOS saying something about how Aperture devices remained safely functional up to 4000 degrees kelvin. It seemed like an eternity ago.

"Gordon, Alyx! We're in trouble, where are you?" yelled Barney over the radio.

"We're on the other side of the door, but its stuck." said Alyx.

More soldiers appeared and Barney had trouble keeping up with the pace. Bullets thudded into the mahogany table, and Chell hoped it would hold.

There was a tearing sound from the vault door and Chell turned to see a small gap had opened. Not big enough to fit a person through, but maybe…

Chell aimed and shot a blue portal through the gap, then grabbed hold of Barney and opened the orange portal directly beneath him.

"Whoaaarrg!" Barney hollered as the earth opened beneath him and they plummeted through.

Chell immediately closed the portals when they landed on the other side, and Gordon slammed the vault door back into position, which he had been holding open with the gravity gun.

Chell and Barney remained where they had landed in a heap on the floor.

"I… I think I wet my pants." Barney moaned. "I really don't like falling."

Chell kicked him away, but did so with a sly smile.

"Did you just come in through a portal?" Alyx asked.

Chell nodded and proceeded to demonstrate the handheld portal device by opening two portals vertically over each other and free falling inside the height of the room. She also demonstrated the high fall boots by stopping unharmed on the floor.

"They did it, Aperture invented self-sustained portals." Alyx murmured.

"Saaay Gordon, are you wearing lipstick?" asked Barney.

Gordon quickly wiped his face and Chell could have sworn she saw Alyx turn a little pink.

"Come on guys, I suspect we're close to the gate." Alyx said and led the way on.

**- λ³ -**

"Sorcery. It has to be." said Barney.

"Oh come on, you don't really believe that?" asked Alyx.

"How else would they fit something this large into this ship?"

Alyx rolled her eyes.

"The ship looked smaller from the outside because it had already been half-buried in snow."

Gordon agreed that the device before them was of impressive scale. In some ways it resembled an archway, but it had a distinctive Aperture feel to it. The white plated finish, the titanium supports and the font of the writing on it's side:

'_Project Aurora: The Nihilanth's gate.'_

"It doesn't matter." Alyx said impatiently. "Lets just find a way to destroy it before the combine find a way to bring in another nihilanth."

Alyx and Barney set out trying to find a way to permanently disable the device, but something was bothering Gordon. The ship creaked and moaned, and it unsettled Gordon.

"Relax Gordon, its just the ship settling, the combine would need a strider to get in here, and they can't walk over the ice without falling through." said Alyx.

Gordon agreed but didn't feel any more assured.

Then it happened again. Time froze, the air turned to concrete around him. And _he_ appeared, as if from nowhere. The man in the gray-blue suit.

"You have been busy doctor Freeman, busy indeed."

He stood before Gordon but looked at the Nihilanth's gate.

"If possible I would have applauded your effort, but unfortunately I am forced to impede your progress yet again. Unfortunately I cannot let you destroy project aurora, and I must _advise _you not to disobey me again. Eli disobeyed my _advice_, and he payed the price. "

The G Man walked up to Chell.

"I had once thought she had been permanently lost to GlaDOS, fortunately I sent her a piece of _advice_ in time to save Chell's life."

The G Man turned and faced Gordon.

"Be advised. We will meet again."

Time snapped back into motion. There was a thunderous sound as the Borealis's hull was split open. Frost and snow blew in from a blizzard that had apparently started outside. An explosion went off inside Gordon's head and his vision dimmed.

"_No, not again!_" Gordon panicked.

An Advisor sailed in through the open hull. An unseen force pinned Gordon to the floor with such force he had trouble breathing. The Advisor headed straight for Alyx who was pinned to a wall outside of Gordon's reach.

His whole world slowed down in that instant. He saw a world without Alyx, bleak and meaningless, a dark void that he did not care to see. The kiss she gave him still burned on his lips, oh how he loved her, how he wished he could tell her that. But the Advisor sailed up to her and started extending his tongue for the kill.

Chell acted where Gordon could not. An orange Portal opened behind Alyx and the force of the Advisor's psionic power pushed her through.

The Advisor screeched loudly, a sound like a thousand nails on chalkboard. But Gordon silently thanked Chell for her quick action.

The Advisor turned violently on Chell where she was pressed up against a wall. It's mechanical arms grabbed her and pulled her closer.

"HEY! Leave her alone you glorified maggot!"

Barney. The Advisor halted a little to eye him through his mechanical eye.

"Yeah that's right, I'm talkin' to you!" yelled Barney. He was pinned against a wall but his mouth worked just fine, and this seemed to distract the Advisor from Chell for a moment. Spurred on by this Barney continued.

"You know what Advisors remind me of? Cacti. Cause you're all _pricks!_ Your birth certificate must be an apology from the condom factory!"

Gordon's jaw dropped.

"... your face looks like it caught fire and someone tried to put it out with a fork! If assholes could fly this place would be an airport, oh wait, THEY DO!" Barney yelled at the hovering Advisor.

An explosion of psionic force smashed Barney against the wall and his eyes rolled back in his sockets. The Advisor raised his tongue as Chell struggled helplessly in his grip. She looked terrified.

A beam of green lightning struck the Advisor, interrupting him.

"Surprise!" a familiar voice sounded from the doorway.

Father Grigori stood there with his double barrel shotgun and was accompanied by three Vortigaunts.

The Advisor screeched loudly and put up his shields just in time to avoid a second hit from the Vortigaunts, then attempted his psionic blast on the Vortigaunts. The Vorts threw up a wall of purple energy and blocked it.

Defeated, the Advisor threw Chell against a wall and flew off. Chell lay where she fell and didn't move.


	8. Recollection

Memories flooded Chell's mind, lighting up her synapses amidst a haze of pain. Flashes of her past became her reality, and as she plunged into the dark void of unconsciousness she remembered everything.

She was ten years old. She was demonstrating how a potato battery could light up a light bulb to a room full of excited girls of about the same age. Her mother was watching from a corner and had tears in her eyes.

A man with brown hair in a white suit approached her and was smiling broadly.

"Look daddy, I made it just like you showed me!" she said and held the potato battery up for her dad to see.

"Very nice Chell, I'm so proud of you!" he said and gave her a warm hug. "Your mother and I have something we'd like to show you."

Her dad motioned to her mother.

"Over here Caroline, the board will have decided if they'll accept Chell as a subject by now."

Her mother joined them and they boarded an elevator.

"Rattman, are we still out of his reach?" asked Caroline.

"Yes. For now." her father replied.

"How long do we have?" her mother asked again.

"I'm not sure, maybe a few years. Black mesa is on the verge of a breakthrough, but we don't know if that will stop him." her father replied with a frown. "Our countermeasures are almost in place, it should keep the cryo chambers secure from accidental discovery."

"Lets hope so."

The elevator doors opened.

"Chell honey, why don't you go have some cake while we're busy?" her mother said sweetly.

Chell's vision changed. It was her twentieth birthday, but her father was speeding out of the city at maniacal speeds.

"Dad, what happened? Why did we have to leave so quickly?"

"Do you remember everything your mother and I taught you?" asked her father.

Chell's blood chilled.

"Its happened hasn't it? Whatever mom and you feared all these years has happened, hasn't it?" asked Chell.

"If Eli Vance had only listened to me!" her father slammed his hand on the steering wheel.

They turned off on a gravel road that ran through a wheat field. Her mother was waiting for them in the middle of the wheat field near a little shed.

"We only have a few minutes before they switch her on, we have to hurry!" said Caroline. Her hair had gone mostly grey and her face looked aged.

The shed opened to show an elevator inside.

"How did this happen? I thought Black Mesa was severing the connection for good?" asked Caroline.

"I warned Eli not to open that portal, but I suspect _they_ had already got to him." her father responded.

"What about Freeman?" asked Caroline.

"He has some measure of protection, I had a hand in the design of the hazard suit. He can't be touched directly."

"Who is this 'they' you keep speaking of?" asked Chell.

"All in good time, honey." her father answered.

The doors opened into a large room filled with computer screens. A group of men in white lab coats were looking at the main screen in the center of the room. It showed two ships. One in a dry dock, the other somewhere in the middle of the ocean.

"Looks like we're just in time, they're taking care of project Aurora now." her mother said.

A few seconds later an explosion blew the ship in the ocean to bits. The remaining hulk sank beneath the waves.

"Yes! The Australis has been sunk, the Borealis should follow suit any second now." her mother said.

A minute passed, but the Borealis remained.

"Something is wrong." her father said."No time, we have to jump it! GlaDOS will take care of the rest. Initialize the jump!" said her father frantically.

"Rattman, he might find out about project Aurora if we do that." said Caroline.

"He already knows, I'm sure. Just jump it!" her father commanded.

There was a blinding display of light on the screen and the Borealis disappeared, taking part of the dry dock with it.

"Get GlaDOS online asap. She needs to hide that ship." Caroline commanded, and the scientists scattered to their posts.

Rattman turned to Chell.

"Honey, come with me. We must hurry."

"Rattman, wait!" said Caroline. She ran to him and pulled him into a hug. "I love you, keep her safe."

"I will."

Caroline turned to Chell.

"Chell baby girl, be strong. There is a tough time ahead."

A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Mom, you're scaring me. What's going on?" asked Chell.

"Don't trust the man in the grey-blue suit."

"Caroline enough, there's no time! We have to get to cryo right now!" said her father.

Chell remembered being put into a room and lying down.

And then she heard Barney's voice.

**- λ³ -**

Barney seemed delirious. "Come on Chell, don't you dare die on me now!"

Gunfire exploded from the opening in the hull where the Advisor had made his entrance.

"Give us some cover!" Barney yelled as he picked Chell's limp body up from the floor.

"We will protect the Barney while he attends to the injured one." one of vortigaunts said.

Alyx appeared on a metal walkway above. "Gordon, the portal spit me out near a weapons storage area. Catch!"

She tossed him a shotgun.

Grigori and the vortigaunts were having a tough time keeping the combine soldiers out but Alyx and Gordon soon joined them in battle.

"Looks like they have that covered for now." Barney mumbled. "Come on Chell, please don't be dead."

He checked her breathing. It was shallow, but she was alive. A shot landed near them and bounced of the wall with a whistle.

"You son of a bitch!" Barney screamed and drew his handgun. "Have some of this! And this, and this!" he said as he fired back at the combine, emphasizing every 'this' with a shot.

"Barney, don't squeeze so tight..."

Barney hadn't even realised he was holding Chell's hand. He looked down and saw her staring back at him.

"You're alive!" he exclaimed and pulled her into a tight hug. "And your voice! How did…"

"Barney, there is no time!" she interrupted him. "I remember everything, he's coming."


	9. Vortessence Unhinged

The All-knowing vortigaunt rose. Someone had found his hiding place. The vortessence had been stirring beyond measure for days now, it was definitely the end times. He knew what was coming, and he knew what needed to be done. He patiently awaited the call of his kin , when the time of battle would dawn upon him once more and he would join the tightly woven tapestry of the vortessence.

"Emerge from shadows or have your chord cut." he said through a wheezing voice.

"Peace, knowing one. I bring news of your kin and of the one free man." a woman responded.

A racking cough crippled him for a few moments.

"Then by all means, continue." he wheezed when his breath returned.

"Your kin are leaving for the north. He is almost here, we cannot delay any longer." the woman said.

"You forget, only I have faced him before and remained vortal. I know his style. You're hiding something." the all knowing vort said.

"Your reputation is not undeserved. I… spoke with him before, all of this -including you- is part of his plan. He is a mastermind that manipulates whomever he wants and steers history towards his own ends." confessed the woman.

The knowing one regarded her for a few seconds.

"I am not well. If what you say is true I will not survive a second encounter with him. All things considered, why would we play into his hand?" the vort asked.

The woman walked closer and stepped into the light. She was middle aged and had a few streaks of grey between her otherwise brown hair.

"Because he did not reckon on this."

He could smell it before she showed it.

"The… the larval extract." he said in awe. "I have misjudged you, what be your name, woman?"

"Mossman. Doctor Judith Mossman." she replied.

**- λ³ -**

Battle raged in the Borealis. Gordon fired from behind cover and a combine soldier dropped. Two more took his place. Alyx ran from her position and took cover beside Gordon.

"There are too many, we need to block that breach! Any ideas?" asked Alyx.

Gordon looked up. A crane was dangling a shipping container over the hull breach. If he could somehow drop that… he pulled out his gravity gun and winked at Alyx.

"Gotcha back Gordon!" she said and reloaded her handgun.

Alyx provided covering fire while Gordon repositioned closer to a wall.

"Portal up!" Chell said and shot a portal in the wall next to Gordon.

The portal opened like a window in the air and Gordon blasted the chain suspending the container. Years of salty sea air had rusted the chain, and it snapped on the first try. The container came crashing down, sealing the breach and crushing any soldiers who dared to linger below. The remaining stragglers inside the ship didn't stand a chance against Barney's photon rifle.

"Nice shooting Barney." said Chell with a wink as the last soldier crumbled to ash.

Gordon walked over to where Alyx was looking at the Nihilanth's gate.

"That won't hold out the combine for long Gordon, we need to disable this thing, let me see..." Alyx walked to the computer console.

"Can't we just blast the thing?" asked Barney.

"Aperture technology can stand anything we throw at it, and we can't risk the combine repairing it." said Chell.

"Yeah about that, when you woke up you went all wild eyed and said 'He's coming'. What did you mean?" asked Barney.

Chell frowned.

"When I blacked out my memories came back. I was put into cryogenic sleep at Aperture on the day of the resonance cascade..."

Chell told them all the bits and pieces she remembered. Gordon and Alyx exchanged looks at the mention of the man in the grey-blue suit.

"Our mutual friend..." Alyx whispered. "Unforeseen consequences."

The vortigaunts had been silent up until now, but spoke up at this news.

"His reach extends through the vortessence and can silence any individual, but now that we stand united he will find our resistance much more… surprising." said one of the vortigaunts.

"Chell, you said the Borealis had a twin?" asked Alyx.

"Yes. Project Aurora consisted of two science vessels. The Borealis in the north and the Australis in the south, probably named after the northern- and southern lights." explained Chell. "But when Aperture got news of the resonance cascade they attempted to trigger a failsafe - a fusion charge could be remotely detonated to destroy the ships. The Australis was destroyed, but the Borealis's charge failed, and they attempted to hide the ship in the polar ocean."

"Then when Wheatley took control of Aperture he neglected to keep an eye on the Borealis, and she ran aground on the ice blanket." said Alyx.

"Right, thats a very neat history lesson but how do we stop this gate from bringing in another Nihilanth?" asked Barney.

"The fusion charge may still be a viable option. I may be able to rig it to blow again." said Alyx. "Right Gordon, you ready to explore the rest of this ship?" asked Alyx.

Gordon nodded, but a noise from the blocked hull breach stopped them short.

There was a metallic screech from the shipping container blocking the entrance. And then all hell broke loose. The container crumpled like a soda can and the previously narrow breach in the hull was torn open wide enough for a bus pass. An invisible wave of energy blasted Gordon off his feet and against a wall. Just before his vision faded he saw advisors floating towards them.

**- λ³ -**

Gordon tried to rub his pounding head, but found that he could not lift his hand. His eyes fluttered open- and he found himself face to face with an advisor.

"I'm getting tired of this." a voice mumbled to his right. Barney.

All the survivors -even the vortigaunts- were bound and shackled back to back in a heap on the floor in front of the Nihilanth's gate. The Advisor drifted off and started working the console with his mechanical arms.

Alyx stirred behind Gordon, then squirmed in panic.

"Gordon? Gordon where are you?"

Gordon couldn't turn to face her but instead gave her hand a squeeze.

"The Alyx and the Freeman's lives are yet woven together. They share a bond even the Advisors can't break." said one of the Vortigaunts.

"Yet I fear Armageddon comes." said Father Grigori. "If a Nihilanth enters this world we will be enslaved like the vortigaunts were years ago."

Gordon was surprised to hear his voice. Had the Advisors really spared them all?

"We have to activate that fusion bomb, Gordon." Alyx whispered into his ear.

Gordon nodded, but a noise drew their attention to the gate. The air in the archway seemed to shimmer and blur, like a reflection on running water. A sound like a great storm filled Gordon's ear and just as it became too loud to bear, it stopped. The air in the archway solidified into a great wall of black.

"We're too late..." said Alyx, despair in her voice.

Even though he emerged victorious from his last encounter with a Nihilanth, he still feared that which waited on the other side of that black veil.

The black veil stirred, and shadow appeared inside. Gordon braced himself. But instead of a monster, a man appeared. A man wearing a grey-blue suit.


	10. The Last Battle

The G-man just stood there meeting Gordon's gaze with an unfaltering cold stare. Silence had fallen, even the Advisors seemed to be bowing to this man now. And then he slowly raised his hands, all the while looking straight at Gordon, and started clapping. A slow, almost mocking clap echoed off the walls. The G-man's face remained expressionless.

"The right man at the wrong place has made all the difference." he said in his slow monotone. "Even though we, err- _parted ways _for a while I made sure everything was..." -he peeked around Gordon at Alyx- "...taken care of."

"You bastard!" Alyx screamed and struggled against her bonds. "_You_ sent those Advisors to white forest! _You_ assassinated my father!"

The G-man was as expressionless as ever.

"His time was spent, my employers had no further use for him. And no I didn't _send _them anywhere, I just simply didn't stop them."

"Your _employers_?" spat Alyx. "Do you work for the Combine then?"

"Oh please, the combine have tried -and failed - to capture or control us for some time. But you took care of that little problem when you closed the superportal, their last remaining hope of maintaining control."

He straightened his tie, then continued.

"Now they have to rally to the new source of control -me- in order to avoid execution -by you."

The corners of his lips twitched, as if he attempted a smile.

"Everything goes as planned."

"You made sure of it all, from the resonance cascade at Black Mesa to the destruction of city 17. You were there from the beginning, making sure the world spiraled down to your own ends." Alyx whispered. "I'll kill you."

"I assure you the feeling is mutual. However, your… friends have unfortunately bound your life to that of my champion: Doctor Freeman." said the G-man.

There was a few moments of stunned silence.

"You will remember that day atop the citadel when I was offered some extraordinary offers for your... services." the G-man continued. "I told you I will not offer you the illusion of free choice. And even though you escaped my grasp for a little while you were never very far from my plan."

This time he really did smile.

"The one Free Man was never really free at all, my influence controlled your every step."

"But you cannot touch him directly." interrupted Chell. "My father made sure of that."

"Well well, it looks like miss Rattman found her voice. And yes, it is true that I cannot directly control or harm Doctor Freeman, but that makes no matter. My secondary influences are more than enough to control him."

"We will free the Freeman again, like we did before when we saved him on that fateful day atop the Citadel." said one of the Vortigaunts.

The G-man's face twisted in anger.

"You failed. I retook control the moment you were distracted long enough with the injured miss Vance." He said in a menacing tone.

"And in doing so we saved her life and placed her beyond your control as well."

"Irrelevant! With the power of project Aurora I will open a gate to bring forth the full force of my employers' armada!"

He was actually yelling now.

"And the first ones to fall will be you."

The vortigaunt stared at the G-man for some time, one red eye meeting his icy grey-blue. And then he threw his own curse right back at him.

"Prepare for unforeseen consequences."

A sudden loud noise deafened Gordon. Purple and blue light exploded into existence right in front of them and Gordon felt his bonds crumble and vaporize. When he reopened his eyes his gasped in surprise. Doctor Mossman and a Vortigaunt that had the unmistakable glow of antlion essence had appeared in front of them, as if from thin air.

The G-man's lip curled.

"You..."

"Yes, me. The first and the last Vortal resistance." the Vortigaunt replied.

The G-man snarled and raised his hands. "This time I won't let you live."

The Vortigaunt assumed a battle stance. "Likewise."

A psionic blast channeled forth from the G-man, tearing up floorboards as it channeled towards the Vortigaunt.

But the Vort was ready for him. Three beams of green- purple and blue lightning met the G-man's attack half way and a catastrophic blast ensued, knocking Gordon off his feet for what felt like the tenth time today.

Doctor Mossman had him on his feet in seconds.

"Here Gordon, we have got to protect the all knowing vort from the rest of the forces while he takes care of our mutual fiend!" she shouted and shoved a pulse rifle into his hands.

Sure enough, Advisors were already closing in on the otherwise-occupied vortigaunt. Gordon fired away. An advisor fell to the floor and attempted to crawl away, but Alyx reached it before it got far.

"This! Is! For! My! Dad!" she said and pulled the trigger of a large handgun with every word.

Gunfire drew Gordon's attention to Barney and Chell. Barney was protecting her with his body while trading fire with an Overwatch Elite.

"Don't worry Chell I got th.."

A shot hit him squarely in the chest, stopping him in mid sentence.

His gun fell from his hands and his eyes rolled back in his sockets before he slowly slumped down in a heap on the floor. Time seemed to stop for Gordon. Chell's face showed everything that he felt. Pure hopelessness reflected in her eyes as she stared at the limp form of Barney in front of her.

Then her expression turned to stone. She grabbed Barney's gun and turned on the Combine Elite.

"You killed him you son of a bitch! And now I'm gonna kill _you_!" she screamed deliriously and opened fire.

For a moment the Elite faltered, seemingly taken aback by her sudden display of ferocity. But that was all she needed. Chell's unrelenting fire tore the Elite asunder, and she did not let up until he resembled a sieve.

"Die asshole!" she screamed as her last bullet pierced his helmet.

"Remind.. me.. never to piss you off." a voice grunted at her feet. Chell's face lit up.

"Barney! You're… I mean.. I thought you were..." she fumbled for words.

"Body armor. Still hurts like shit though, but I guess I'm lucky to b.."

Chell silenced him with a kiss before he could say anything else. Gordon couldn't help but smile. Amidst all this battle and impending doom Barney managed to _not strike out,_ for once.

The thought only lasted a moment though, he just managed to redirect an Advisor's attack away from the all knowing vortigaunt in time for Alyx to shoot it down.

"This isn't working Gordon!" she yelled. "The only way we will win is if we blow the Borealis! We have to find that bomb. I will go, you stay here and fight."

Gordon wanted to stop her from going alone, but was momentarily distracted by gunfire in his direction. When he looked back, Alyx had already gone.

Chell and Barney joined him in forming a defensive line behind the all knowing vort, who was now battling the G-man in earnest. The G-man shattered windows high above and directed the torrent of broken glass towards the Vort, but he simply put up a shield that turned the glass to fine sand which he blew back at the G-man in a giant cloud, blinding him. Then in the moment it took him to recover, the vort shot a ball of green lightning at him. The G-man swatted it away the instant it reached him, and the duel continued.

Gordon and the rest of the resistance weren't having it easy either, they traded gunfire from behind cover but more and more soldiers were arriving by dropship. Father Grigori fired both of his barrels into a charging hunter and it stumbled and fell.

"Nice one Grigori!" yelled Barney.

"Thank you Barnicle, you're not too bad yourself." Father Grigori started laughing, but a stray round struck the side of his head and he fell to the floor, never to move again.

"There is no time, just keep fighting!" Judith yelled.

"Bastards!" yelled Barney and resumed fighting.

A soldier charged Gordon with a shotgun. Gordon took aim but when he pulled the trigger his rifle only made a click. Empty. With no firearms remaining, he did the only thing he could. He tackled the soldier the moment he came close to their cover.

The shotgun went off but Gordon was out of its way. He wrestled with the soldier on the ground, fighting to keep the shotgun out of his face, but combine soldiers were no longer human and possessed great strength. Gordon hammered an elbow into his jaw in an effort to stun him, but to no avail.

"Here Gordon, its my last one!" yelled Barney and tossed him a crowbar.

Gordon caught it with one hand while keeping the gun down with his other, and then hammered the crowbar into the soldier's skull, silencing him for good.

"ENOUGH!" the G-man boomed behind them, and a force similar to that of an Advisor pulled them into the air and bound them there.

Gordon saw that the all knowing vortigaunt was now kneeling in a pool of greenish blood in front of the G-Man.

"Enough bickering. You're too late." The veil in the Nihilanth's gate twitched ever so slightly.

"It is never too late." wheezed the vort.

Gordon's earpiece buzzed to life again. "The bomb is armed, we have about forty-five seconds before this place goes boom." said Alyx.

"And how do you intend to stop me? I have beaten you." the G-man addressed the vort.

The Vortigaunt suddenly stretched forward and grabbed hold of the G-man's leg.

"Embrace eternity."

Tendrils of green electricity shot across the G-man's body and formed a net of glowing energy. The force binding Freeman instantly dropped him to the floor.

"I have bound his power, do it now Freeman!" yelled the vortigaunt.

Gordon did not wait. He charged the G-man, crowbar in hand.

"I.. made... you!" the G-man squirmed.

Gordon's crowbar connected with his face, and the curved end sank into his skull.

"Double tap!" yelled Barney as he connected a flying kick with both feet to the G-man's chest, sending him flying back through the veil. Gordon immediately felt his vocal chords release.

"And I have unmade you." he whispered as the G-man went flying through the veil.

They didn't have time to admire the scene though, Alyx appeared in the doorway behind them.

"Run! This place is gonna blow any second now!" she yelled.

Gordon and the rest of the survivors made a beeline for the breach and plowed into the heavy snowfall outside.

"Move it! To cover!" said Alyx through ragged breaths and pointed to the wreck of a dropship impaled in the ice.

"I guess they don't handle the cold so well." said Barney.

The survivors stumbled through the snow and collapsed in a heap behind the cover of the dropship. The bomb went of in a blast of heat. Ice instantly vaporized beneath the power of the fusion charge and a wave of steam enveloped the survivors. But when it dissipated five survivors remained. A crater had been melted in the ice where the explosion occurred, and the little that remained of the Borealis sank into the arctic through the ice.

Gordon stared at the spot where the Borealis disappeared for some time thereafter. Alyx silently slid her hand into his. He looked at her and smiled, then touched his hand to his earpiece.

"Gordon Freeman to white forest, it is over. This is D-day."

Alyx's jaw dropped.

"Your voice..." she whispered.

"Yeah, I guess we should call this G-day then, eh Gordon?" said Barney with a wink.


	11. Epilogue

Gordon stared out over the grasslands from the balcony. Six years had passed since G-day, the last Combine forces had fallen in less than six months since the destruction of the Borealis. In the years that followed humanity rebuilt itself and for the first time stood united under one banner: Black Mesa United.

Alyx joined Gordon, A young boy at her side.

"How did it go at the strategy meeting today?" she asked.

"Doctor Kleiner thinks the Xenium shield will protect us from unwanted company as long as its active. Final launch is tomorrow. Oh, and president Mossman sends her regards."

"Hmm, Judith. I don't know what we would have done without her."

"Yeah, Barney and Chell were there as well, but they didn't stay long." said Gordon with a smile.

"Speaking of which, you'd better put on a shirt, they're due any minute now."

Gordon smiled and kissed her on her forehead. When he returned a car pulled up in the driveway.

Barney got out and opened the door for Chell. A young girl hopped out from the back seat and hugged Baney's leg.

"Mommy Caroline is here!" exclaimed a little voice in excitement.

Alyx laughed. "Alright Eli, go say hello to your friend. Gordon, you dressed yet?"

"I'm coming honey." replied Gordon with a smile.

Eli and Caroline were running around excitedly in the garden as a fire crackled under the setting sun. Alyx and Chell were busy in the house somewhere while Gordon and Barney sat watching the kids.

"You think we will ever find out who his employers were?" asked Barney.

Gordon was quiet for a minute.

"I hope not."

"To the future, then." said Barney and raised his beer.

Gordon smiled.

"To the future."

- - - λ³ - - -

Thank you for taking the time to read my attempt at creating an ending to such an epic tale, it has been an honor. And to Gaben and his team at Valve, thank you for creating this incredible universe that we love. We patiently await the third coming of_ the one free man!_


End file.
